Whenever we are looking at a topic I find that I end up looking to see if there is an Eyewitness book (or Eyewitness Guide) on the subject, and if I see one in a charity shop then I will inevitably buy it. Though it has to be said that at least so far this is far more for my benefit than my daughters’.

This series covers a wide range of subjects. They successfully walk a fine line between being very visual and being very detailed. The spreads break up information into one main section. And the rest of the page features bite-size text and lots of photographs, often of artefacts. With over 60 pages these books go into lots of detail of different aspects of the topic covered.

We recommend these for adults getting to grips with a subject and for older children. For younger children (pre-teen) we find that they are too detailed, unless a child has a particular passion for the subject. They might however suit a visual child, or one with a particular interest in physical things at a younger age.